Legal aid access for digitally excluded
Insufficient provision and access to legal aid for digitally excluded individuals, exacerbated by reliance on remote advice.
170 items
9 sources
3 inquiries
Strongest theme matches
Mixed across source types and ranked by classifier confidence plus text match strength.
Committee recommendation
100match
#14 - LAA explores contract barriers and funds travel to improve legal aid access for vulnerable.
We asked MoJ and LAA for an update on what they are doing to ensure that different groups can access legal aid, particularly those for whom remote advice may not be suitable. LAA explained that since the previous Committee’s evidence session, it had been looking at how to empower providers to use their judgement on the best way...
Matched on
terms: acces, aid, legal
Committee recommendation
100match
#13 - MoJ failed to detail alternative legal aid routes for those unable to use remote advice.
In its Treasury Minute response to our predecessor’s 2024 report, MoJ acknowledged that while remote advice can be effective, some people will always require face-to-face advice. It said that it had worked with stakeholders to identify safeguards and better understand the impact of remote provision, for example, for those in custody. It stated that where remote advice is...
Matched on
terms: acces, aid, legal
Committee recommendation
100match
#12 - Legal aid deserts' and remote advice disproportionately exclude vulnerable groups from justice.
Our predecessor Committee’s May 2024 report on legal aid in England and Wales raised concerns around access to legal aid advice in areas of the country lacking face-to-face provision of legal aid. Where there are gaps in provision MoJ and LAA often rely on remote advice to fill the gaps. The Committee stressed that ‘legal aid deserts’, large...
Matched on
terms: acces, aid, digitally, excluded
Committee recommendation
100match
#3 - Require MoJ and LAA to set out plans for digitally excluded legal aid access and provision.
We are not satisfied that MoJ and the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) are doing enough to ensure that people eligible for legal aid can access it, particularly those who are digitally excluded. This Committee previously raised concerns that LAA’s reliance on remote advice in areas of the country which lack face-to-face provision of legal aid risks disproportionately penalising...
Matched on
terms: acces, aid, digitally, excluded
Committee recommendation
99match
#38 - 3rd Report - The Future of Legal Aid
Online legal services should not be seen as a replacement for traditional face-to-face services, especially when such a high proportion of those who qualify for legal aid do not always have reliable access to digital technology. That said, we agree with a number of submissions that have suggested that there is a significant opportunity to use technology to...
Matched on
terms: acces, aid, legal
Committee recommendation
99match
#35 - 3rd Report - The Future of Legal Aid
Sustainability issues for civil legal aid providers are sufficiently serious to justify a complete overhaul of the system. A number of witnesses have highlighted that a combination of number of fundamental problems rather than one or two specific issues contribute to the unsustainability of civil legal aid. Furthermore, this lack of sustainability is having a knock-on effect on...
Matched on
terms: acces, aid, legal
Committee recommendation
99match
#32 - 3rd Report - The Future of Legal Aid
We recognise the strength of Richard Miller’s suggestion that judges should be empowered to make a direction that an individual needs representation and that it should be binding on the Legal Aid Agency to provide exceptional case funding in that case. Such an approach could increase access to justice for the most vulnerable litigants and improve the efficiency...
Matched on
terms: acces, aid, legal
Committee recommendation
98match
#7 - Legal aid agencies lack demand and capacity data, hindering understanding of access issues.
Neither MoJ nor LAA estimate demand for legally aided services, nor do they capture routine data on whether providers are turning potential clients away.12 MoJ and LAA told us that this was partly because they do not want to place too high a burden on providers by requiring them to submit additional data.13 But this means that they...
Matched on
terms: acces, aid, legal
Committee recommendation
95match
#30 - 3rd Report - The Future of Legal Aid
We welcome the Government’s decision to review the means test for both civil and criminal legal aid. There is a strong consensus among witnesses that any revised means test for civil legal aid should be simpler, for example by using passporting, should be set at an objectively defined poverty line and should be regularly uprated. The vast majority...
Matched on
terms: acces, aid, legal
Committee recommendation
94match
#8 - Persistent "legal aid deserts" reduce face-to-face access to legal aid services nationwide.
Stakeholders, including the Law Society, have often raised concerns about “legal aid deserts”, where large geographical areas do not have a legal aid provider for a particular category of law.19 For example, 183 local authorities had no legal aid provider office for housing issues in 2022–23, with particular gaps in large areas of the South West and the...
Matched on
terms: acces, aid, legal
Committee recommendation
94match
#82 - Provide victims of trafficking with earlier, better legal aid, including currently out-of-scope areas.
We recommend that the Government provides victims of human trafficking with earlier and better access to legal aid. This must include the following areas that are currently ‘out of scope’: pre-NRM immigration advice; advice on identification as a victim of trafficking and modern slavery; advice on the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme; advice for non-UK nationals on applying for...
Matched on
terms: acces, aid, legal
Committee recommendation
90match
#41 - 3rd Report - The Future of Legal Aid
The Government should consider creating a system of earned autonomy that places more trust in the decision making of providers with strong records of high-quality decision making. The Agency’s processes should have some incentives for providers to work towards gradually reducing the burden of administrative requirements. Given the difficulties facing legal aid providers, placing greater trust in their...
Matched on
terms: acces, aid, legal
Committee recommendation
90match
#9 - Remote legal aid provision's suitability for vulnerable groups remains unclear without data.
LAA explained that for some places where there are local gaps in legal aid providers, people could seek remote advice from providers elsewhere in the country, providers in neighbouring areas or via its telephone service. MoJ stated there were some benefits of remote provision for many in providing a more discreet service and in ease of providing interpreter...
Matched on
terms: aid, legal
Committee recommendation
90match
#120 - Broaden Financial Inclusion Committee remit and regularly publish evidence on equitable cash access.
HM Treasury must broaden the terms of reference of the Financial Inclusion Committee on “digital inclusion and access to banking services” explicitly to address the risk that a two-tier economy will lock the digitally excluded out of the economy. HM Treasury must commit to reviewing internally and externally produced evidence on cash access and cash acceptance in the...
Matched on
terms: acces, digitally, excluded
Committee recommendation
90match
#18 - 3rd Report - The Future of Legal Aid
The Government should consider how technology can be used to increase the accessibility of legal advice to suspects and defendants. The Government should also consider developing a scheme to enable criminal legal aid providers to upgrade their digital capacity.
Matched on
terms: acces, aid, legal
Committee recommendation
89match
#3 - Monitor Illegal Migration Act's impact and assess Exceptional Case Funding efficiency for immigration.
We are concerned about access to legal aid for immigration matters which often involve extremely vulnerable people, and the effectiveness of the Exceptional Case Funding (ECF) scheme for some of these cases. Organisations including the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association provided evidence to the Committee of a ‘supply crisis’ in the immigration and asylum legal aid market. People eligible...
Matched on
terms: acces, aid, legal
Committee recommendation
87match
#42 - 3rd Report - The Future of Legal Aid
The Government should consider enabling the Legal Aid Agency to provide specific support to legal aid providers to bring in trainees. This support should be targeted to areas where there is a particular shortage of specialist advice.
Matched on
terms: aid, legal
Committee recommendation
87match
#36 - 3rd Report - The Future of Legal Aid
The basis for the radical change required in civil legal aid requires the Government to establish the level of need for civil legal aid services in England and Wales. Once that is established, the Government needs to ensure that suppliers of legal aid services have the capacity to meet that need. We agree with a number of witnesses...
Matched on
terms: aid, legal
Committee recommendation
87match
#1 - Committee reviewed HMP Dartmoor lease, legal aid provision, and LAA cyberattack management.
We took evidence from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) and the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) to follow up on our recent scrutiny of several topics. This included HMPPS’s management of the lease renewal at HMP Dartmoor, MoJ and LAA’s response to the previous Committee’s 2024 report on legal aid and their management...
Matched on
terms: aid, legal
Committee recommendation
86match
#15 - LAA acknowledges persistent legal aid gaps in housing and debt, with flawed capacity assessments.
LAA did, however, acknowledge that there are still gaps in securing sufficient provision of legal aid across the country, particularly for housing and debt advice.30 MoJ explained that LAA is currently meeting its standard of ensuring there is at least one provider for the different types of legal aid (five providers for family cases) in each of its...
Matched on
terms: aid, legal
Committee recommendation
86match
#5 - Set out plans to ensure access and engagement with all audiences, including digital innovation.
The BBC’s mission to ‘serve all audiences’ is at risk as younger audiences choose other media providers, while the BBC’s digital- first strategy could risk alienating non digital audiences. As younger viewers turn to other platforms and older or less digitally connected audiences’ risk being left behind, the BBC’s ability to serve all audiences, a core part of...
Matched on
terms: acces, digitally, excluded
Committee recommendation
86match
#40 - 3rd Report - The Future of Legal Aid
We welcome the Legal Aid Agency’s work to respond to legal aid providers concerns in relation to the “culture of refusal”. We also recognise their commitment to ensure that taxpayers’ money is managed properly. We acknowledge that the staff and leadership at the Legal Aid Agency have limited scope to alter the fundamental dynamics that determine their role...
Matched on
terms: acces, aid, legal
NAO recommendation
85match
Government’s management of legal aid
MoJ should, working with LAA and others, ensure that those who want (and are eligible for) legal aid can access it in future by improving: ? how it monitors whether those who apply for its exceptional case funding scheme individually are able to find a provider and acting to address any issues found. (bullet 2)
Matched on
terms: acces, aid, legal
Committee recommendation
83match
#33 - 3rd Report - The Future of Legal Aid
Civil legal aid, like criminal legal aid, needs the Government to take decisive action to change the approach set by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 at the start of the last decade. Without such a step, the sector will continue to struggle to attract new recruits.
Matched on
terms: aid, legal
Committee recommendation
83match
#5 - 3rd Report - The Future of Legal Aid
The lack of any increase to criminal legal aid fees for solicitors over the past 20 years needs to be addressed. Sir Christopher Bellamy’s current review, commissioned by the Government, gives an opportunity to do this. Thereafter, fees and rates should be regularly reviewed in line with inflation, otherwise the gap will build up over time and become...
Matched on
terms: aid, legal
Committee recommendation
82match
#37 - 3rd Report - The Future of Legal Aid
However, it is not a question of simply raising fees, but rather making better use of the resources available. We believe that the best way of ensuring value of money is to focus on expanding the capacity of those providers who are able to offer a high-quality service to the public at a relatively low cost when compared...
Matched on
terms: aid, legal
Committee recommendation
81match
#10 - Lack of expert legal representation for complex asylum claims causes poor decisions and appeals.
There is a lack of access to expert legal representation for people claiming asylum in the UK. This is particularly problematic in relation to complex claims, often involving sexual orientation or gender identity, religious belief or renunciation of belief, and sexual and gender-based violence and abuse. There is evidence that lack of legal representation during the initial claim...
Matched on
terms: acces, aid, legal
Committee recommendation
78match
#43 - 3rd Report - The Future of Legal Aid
If the Government were to accept the recommendations we have made on how to approach criminal and civil legal aid it will be necessary to address the Legal Agency Aid’s priorities, its institutional capacity and how it uses its resources. The Government should consider whether the Legal Aid Agency should expand its data collection and publication in order...
Matched on
terms: aid, legal
Committee recommendation
78match
#31 - 3rd Report - The Future of Legal Aid
The Exceptional Case Funding system should be reformed.
Matched on
terms: aid, legal
Committee recommendation
78match
#9 - 3rd Report - The Future of Legal Aid
The predominance of inadequate fixed fees in the current framework is problematic. The structure of the fees does not reflect the complexity of the work required, nor does it incentivise firms to take on the most difficult cases at an early stage. The Government should reform the fee structure to prioritise quality over quantity and to allow criminal...
Matched on
terms: aid, legal
Committee recommendation
78match
#8 - 3rd Report - The Future of Legal Aid
The justice system needs talented lawyers from all backgrounds to choose to practise criminal law and for the professions to be able to retain them. In 2018, The Future of Legal Aid 67 our predecessor Committee stated “that current difficulties in recruitment to the Criminal Bar could have a negative impact on future recruitment to, and diversity within,...
Matched on
terms: aid, legal
Committee recommendation
78match
#7 - 3rd Report - The Future of Legal Aid
There are serious problems with the current fee schemes for criminal legal aid. The fees and rates do not reflect the work required. The schemes should be reformed to ensure that they offer a fair rate for the work required and are subject to regular review.
Matched on
terms: aid, legal
Committee recommendation
78match
#6 - 3rd Report - The Future of Legal Aid
The criminal justice system will be stronger if able and experienced advocates at the criminal bar are able to do publicly funded legal aid work. The gap between private and public rates has grown substantially in the past decade, and while a significant gap is to be expected, we agree with Criminal Bar Association’s interim submission to the...
Matched on
terms: aid, legal
Committee recommendation
78match
#4 - 3rd Report - The Future of Legal Aid
There appears to be a growing imbalance between the ability of criminal defence firms to recruit and retain staff and that of the Crown Prosecution Service. It is fundamental to our adversarial justice system that criminal defence services have sufficient resources to provide high-quality representation to suspects and defendants. We recommend that the Government consider linking legal aid...
Matched on
terms: aid, legal
Committee recommendation
78match
#3 - 3rd Report - The Future of Legal Aid
Without significant reform there is a real chance that there will be a shortage of qualified criminal legal aid lawyers to fulfil the crucial role of defending suspects and defendants. This risks a shift in the balance between prosecution and defence that could compromise the fairness of the criminal justice system.
Matched on
terms: aid, legal
Committee recommendation
78match
#11 - Increase funding for asylum legal aid to ensure specialist support for complex claims nationwide.
We recommend the Government increases funding for asylum legal aid to ensure specialist support is available for claimants across the UK during the initial determination process, particularly for sexual orientation and gender identity, sexual and gender-based violence and abuse, and religious belief and apostasy-based claims.
Matched on
terms: aid, legal
Committee recommendation
78match
#4 - Ensure financial eligibility thresholds for legal aid are routinely reviewed and swiftly implemented.
The Ministry of Justice has been slow to review financial eligibility thresholds, leaving fewer people eligible for legal aid, and it has not set out how it plans to review thresholds in future. One of the aims of MoJ’s 2013 reforms was to target legal aid at those who need it most. However, it did not create a...
Matched on
terms: aid, legal
Inquiry recommendation
74match
HIA-11 - Legal Aid for Applicants
We recommend that applicants should be eligible for legal aid to allow them to obtain legal assistance to make an application for an award.
Matched on
terms: aid, legal
Committee recommendation
74match
#39 - 3rd Report - The Future of Legal Aid
We commend the Legal Aid Agency for its work supporting legal aid providers since the start of the pandemic. The approach taken by the Agency and its staff shows that it can be flexible and proactive if the circumstances allow. We recommend that the Agency continues with this approach in the future. We would also suggest that the...
Matched on
terms: aid, legal
Inquiry recommendation
73match
MACP-43 - Provide Legal Aid for victims' families for representation at appropriate inquests.
That consideration be given to the provision of Legal Aid to victims or the families of victims to cover representation at an Inquest in appropriate cases.
Matched on
terms: aid, legal
PHSO casework decision
73match
P-001891 - Legal Aid Agency
Ms V complains the Legal Aid Agency gave her incorrect advice about the scope of her legal aid certificate, and its later decision to withdraw this certificate. She also complains about its complaint handling and communication.
Matched on
terms: aid, legal
Committee recommendation
69match
#6 - Publish refreshed Digital Inclusion Strategy with detailed focus on older people’s digital needs.
The Government must bring forward a refreshed Digital Inclusion Strategy. The Strategy should have a detailed focus on the needs of digitally excluded older people, including a plan for funding locally delivered digital skills provision and promoting best practice in the public and private sectors in maintaining offline alternatives to digital for as long as needs remain, and...
Matched on
terms: digitally, excluded
Committee recommendation
69match
#5 - Government’s outdated Digital Inclusion Strategy fails to address older people’s digital exclusion.
Older age is not in itself a cause of digital exclusion but strongly correlates with some of the key measures, including lack of broadband at home and non-ownership of a smartphone. There is also a large number of “hidden” digitally excluded older people: those who appear to be online, having broadband at home and owning a smartphone, but...
Matched on
terms: digitally, excluded
Committee recommendation
65match
#3 - Understand digital service replacement capacity and ensure minimum telephone service for all customers.
HMRC has been too willing to let its telephone services fail in the hope this forces people to use its digital services instead. HMRC estimates 66% of calls it receives could be handled online instead. It hopes that by encouraging customers to use digital services it can free up its helplines for vulnerable customers and customers with complex...
Matched on
terms: acces, aid
Committee recommendation
65match
#26 - Universal broadband availability is crucial for the BBC's equitable transition to online services.
The inability to maintain “universal, easy-to-access distribution” is one of the BBC’s principal risks.59 When we asked about how the BBC is preparing for the transition to online, the BBC told us that any move towards it must ensure “no one is left behind,” emphasising that the BBC had no desire to have people who cannot access its...
Matched on
terms: acces, aid
PHSO casework decision
65match
P-003982 - Legal Aid Agency
Miss X complains that the Legal Aid Agency would not provide a full breakdown of the costs that made up her final bill and did not provide her with an estimate of potential costs she might incur if she lost her case.
Matched on
terms: aid, legal
Committee recommendation
60match
#21 - Third Report - Reimagining where we live: cultural placemaking and the levelling up agenda
The services and spaces offered by public libraries remain an important part of a community’s infrastructure for people who are digitally excluded or who live in deprived neighbourhoods.
Matched on
terms: digitally, excluded
Inquiry recommendation
60match
AC-1c - Legal Support Signposting
IBCA include a prominent reference to the availability of legal support paid by IBCA on all registration and application forms and in public information about the compensation scheme and that the Solicitors Regulation Authority remind solicitors of their obligations.
Matched on
terms: aid, legal
PHSO casework decision
60match
P-003836 - Legal Aid Agency
Mr A complains the Legal Aid Agency falsified his financial evidence, threatened him with enforcement action and it delayed correcting his means assessment.
Matched on
terms: aid, legal
PHSO casework decision
60match
P-002438 - Legal Aid Agency
Miss H complains the Legal Aid Agency disallowed her 2021 application in error.
Matched on
terms: aid, legal